


Little Surprise

by Hellokaelyn



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Family, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:13:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: “He was all iron outside, but all father within.” - Hall Caine





	Little Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if some parts seem unrealistic, I tried lol

_ Nick sat across from the social services worker feeling as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest and run off. _

_ This was not where he expected to be on a Wednesday afternoon.  _

_ Luckily he had got the call when it was only him and Gibbs in the bullpen so he didn’t have to deal with questions he couldn’t answer from Tim and Ellie. He had only told Gibbs who the caller was and that he was needed down at the social services office. Gibbs had given him the rest of the day off with an order to call when he knew something.  _

_ Nick was right away shown to a corner office where the woman who called him waited. _

_ “Mr. Torres.” The woman, Carol, said to get his attention. _

_ He cleared his throat. “Uh sorry, and uh Nick is fine.” _

_ “Nick.” She tried smiling reassuringly at him. “Do you know a woman by the name of Elena Silva?” _

_ His breath caught in his throat. “Y-Yes...what does she have to do with-” Nick stopped. _

_ “Ms. Silva was in a car accident last week.” Nick swallowed roughly. Elena was dead?  _

_ “But your social services...why would you be talking to me about this?” He asked, though there was a nagging thought in his head that said he already knew the answer. _

_ Carol sighed. “Nick, when Ms. Silva died, she left behind a child. We did our research so we know what kind of family Ms. Silva is from which is an unhealthy environment for a child, but it turns out she had no living relatives that could take her child in-” _

_ “Again..why am I here of all people?” Nick asked, trying to hide the impatience in his voice. Once again he felt it in his gut, he knew why he was here but- _

_ “It took us some time to track down the child’s father...which lead us to you. Nick, we confirmed that you’re the child’s father.” _

_ Nick took a deep breath. A father? Him? _

_ “A-Are you sure? I mean..” _

_ “We’re sure.” _

_ He ran a hand down his face. “I...tell me more. I mean, you keep saying ‘child’ but not the gender or-” _

_ Carol slid a file towards him, Nick slowly opened it to look at the contents as Carol kept talking. “Your daughter’s name is Mariana, she’s two years old.” _

_ Nick felt so many emotions crash into him as he looked at the picture of her in the file. _

_ Mariana. His daughter. Nick wanted to deny it, wanted to yell at this Carol woman that she had to be wrong. But as he looked at Mariana’s picture he knew it was true. _

_ “I...have a daughter.” He whispered to himself, his voice cracking. _

_ “Would you like to meet her?” Carol asked softly. “She’s right in the other room playing with the other kids.” _

_ “Yes.” Nick said without any hesitation.  _

_ Carol left to get her, giving him a few minutes alone. _

_ Nick only pictured himself with kids a handful of times but he never thought it’d actually happen for him. Was he even fit to be a dad to a little girl? A little girl who had just lost her mother, a mother who probably never told or showed her who he was. Nick wouldn’t blame Elena if she didn’t. He had used her as a way to get closer to her dad, used her as a means to finish his undercover work. Nick knew he had hurt her terribly, usually he could do it without hesitation and without guilt but he had actually liked Elena as a person. If he hadn’t been undercover...but he was.  _

_ He had got someone pregnant when he was undercover. How could he have been so stupid? And she was left with the task of raising a child that probably pained her to look at sometimes with how similar he and Mariana looked. Elena had to look at her daughter and have thoughts of his betrayal. Nick hoped that Elena saw past it and showed Mariana the type of person she was, not the person her family made her out to be.  _

_ Nick shot out of his chair the second he heard the door opening. _

_ Carol walked into the room but his eyes were only on the tanned dark haired two year old girl trailing after her, a pink stuffed bear’s arm clutched in her hand.  _

_ “Nick...this is Mariana.” Carol said softly, she bent down to Mariana’s height. “Mariana sweetie, this man’s name is Nick.” _

_ For a second he wondered if she could understand the words, until she nodded, showing she at least understood some of it. _

_ “Hi.” Mariana said softly, the bear now clutched in her arms. _

_ Nick gave her a friendly smile as he bent down. “That’s a nice bear, what’s its name?” _

_ “Nicky.”  _

_ His breath left him for a second.  _

_ “Nicky? Well I think me and your bear will be great friends.”  _

_ Mariana looked right at him. “Nick.” Her finger pointing at him. _

_ Nick couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, my names Nick.” _

_ Mariana giggled. “My bear!” _

_ “Yeah.” Nick laughed softly. “It’s almost the name, isn’t it?” _

_ She took a step closer to him, stretching her arms...to give him her bear. _

_ Nick slowly took the bear. _

_ Mariana gave him a huge toothy smile.  _

_ And right there and then, Nick felt his heart fill with love for this little girl.  _

* * *

Nick had been sitting on a bench near the social services office for an hour before he called Gibbs.

“Gibbs.” He said right when Gibbs picked up. Right away he knew the older man would catch on to the shakiness of his voice. 

“Torres, you okay?”

Nick laughed humorlessly. “No idea...I just...got the biggest shock of my damn life.”

“Talk to me.”

“I...I have a daughter, Gibbs.”

Gibbs was silent for a little bit, though Nick could have sworn he heard Gibbs mutter something like ‘Tony’.

“Are you sure? Do we need to run a DNA test?”

Nick shook his head even though he knew Gibbs couldn’t see it. “No..I’m sure. She...looks too much like me and even Lucia from when she was young.” 

“The mother?”

He took a deep breath. “I screwed up big time, Gibbs.” 

“Let me guess...the mom is someone from when you were undercover.” 

“Yeah.” Nick laughed humorlessly again. “My daughter is two, and her name is Mariana.”

Gibbs went quiet for a bit again.

“Elena Silva.”

“Yes..god I really screwed this up. How could I be so stupid Gibbs?”

“Hey!” Gibbs shouted a little to grab his attention. “We all screw up one time or another when being undercover, no matter how experienced. You did what you thought was best at the time.”

“I shouldn’t have involved Elena like that-”

“She already was involved.” Gibbs reminded him. “There’s nothing you can do to change it now, all you can do is be there for your daughter.”

“Thanks Gibbs.” Nick sighed. “I...I’ll be able to bring her home with me in a few weeks. There needs to be house visits, paperwork, and then I need to spend some time with Mariana before she’s allowed to live with me so she isn’t right away moving in with a stranger-”

“I’ll take care of it.” Gibbs said. “I’ll talk to Vance. What are you going to tell the others?”

Nick sighed again. “Just...can you and Vance tell them I’m on an assignment or something? Keep them off my back for a bit...once Mariana is settled I’ll tell them.”

“Already done.”

* * *

Weeks later Nick was walking through the orange halls to a conference room where Gibbs sat with Ellie and Tim. He wanted to tell them first before anyone else.

Especially Ellie. 

He was most worried about her reaction. Not to the him having a kid part, he knew she’d take that fine enough. But to the part where he hid this from her for so long, when these days he practically told her everything.

Nick tried to ignore the pang in his heart at his sudden thoughts. What if any chance he ever had with Ellie was destroyed because of this? Would she be interested in a guy who now had a daughter?

“Nick!” Ellie said right as he walked into the room. He noticed Gibbs off to the side leaning against the wall while Ellie and Tim were seated. Nick moved to sit across from them.

“Gibbs said you had something to tell us, is this about the assignment you were on?” Tim asked.

Nick shook his head. “I uh wasn’t on an assignment, I told Gibbs to tell you guys that so I could..have some time.” 

Ellie had a worried look on her face. “Time for what? Are you okay? Are Lucia and Amanda okay?”

“Their fine.” He quickly assured her. “I just...got some news and needed time to deal with it.”

“What’s going on, Nick?” Tim asked worried.

He took a deep breath, and soon the words were pouring out of his mouth.

“Wow…” Tim said speechless. “You’re...a dad.”

Nick nodded. 

“Can...can we see a picture of her?” Ellie asked softly. Nick tried reading her expression but she was hiding her feelings well. It unsettled him.

He took out his phone, going to his photos that were now filled with pictures of Mariana. He picked one of her grinning at the camera, Nicky of course in her arms.

“She’s adorable and beautiful.” Ellie said, her voice sounding teary as her eyes watered. 

It made his stomach clench.

“She looks a lot like you.” Tim pointed out. 

“Yeah..yeah she does.” 

* * *

Ellie laid in her bed that night staring at the ceiling. 

She didn’t know  _ how _ she was supposed to feel about this. Did she even have a right to feel anything? She wasn’t Nick’s girlfriend after all. No, she just had strong feelings for him.

Nick was a dad. Nick had a daughter.

Ellie closed her eyes as she thought back to the look on his face when he talked about Mariana. It was a mixture of happiness, fear, love. Her heart clenched at how much love he obviously had for this little girl he only just discovered. 

She always knew he’d make a good dad some day.

….Ellie just always imagined he was father to  _ her _ kids when she thought about it. Was that selfish or mean of her to be upset?

But as Ellie thought back to the pictures she seen of Mariana, that all disappeared and the only thing she could think of was how this little girl was half Nick's.

And as she drifted off to sleep finally, Ellie couldn’t wait to meet her.

* * *

Nick felt like his nerves were on fire a week later. Ellie was coming over to meet Mariana for the first time.

Mariana sat on the couch, Nicky in her lap as she swung her feet back and forth. 

A knock sounded at the door. 

It was the moment of truth. Either Mariana liked Ellie, or she didn’t. Nick was just praying that she did or- he didn’t even want to think about it. 

“Hey Ellie.” Nick tried smiling but knew his nerves showed.

Ellie smiled back, a little relief filling him when he noticed she was nervous too. “Hey.”

Nick led her to the couch where Mariana was still watching her cartoon.

“Mariana.” Nick said, right away she looked away from the TV and at him. “This is my friend Ellie.”

Mariana climbed off the couch, coming to where Ellie had bent down. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Ellie said back, smiling. 

Mariana reached out, her hand grabbing onto a piece of Ellie’s hair. “Pretty.”

Ellie chuckled. “Thank you, yours is very pretty too.”

She smiled, a shy look on her face before turning to look at Nick, her finger pointing to Ellie. “Princess?” 

Nick tried to hide his grin, which became harder at the blush on Ellie’s cheeks. “No Mari, she’s not a princess.” He bent down, leaning to whispered to Mariana. “But she  _ is _ pretty like one.”

Ellie’s blush deepened making him grin. 

Mariana giggled with a nod. “Yes!”

“Well.” Ellie said clearing her throat. “I think  _ you _ look like a princess, miss Mariana.” 

A toothy smile formed on her face, and suddenly before either Nick or Ellie could react, Mariana was flinging herself into Ellie’s arms. 

Both of their eyes widened in shock at her sudden action. Ellie let out a soft little ‘oh’ before wrapping her arms around the little girl who was clinging to her. She looked at Nick but all he could do was shrug. 

“Princess stay!” 

Nick bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. 

His daughter wanted Ellie to stay.

* * *

“Daddy!” 

Nick shot out of his bed, not even hesitating for a second as he ran to Mariana’s room.

“What’s wrong princess?” He asked softly. Mariana was under her blankets clutching Nicky for dear life as she sniffled.

“Bad dream.”

Nick sighed before crawling into the bed next to her, wrapping his arm around her. Mariana right away snuggled up to him. Nick pulled the covers back over her making sure to tuck them in tight. 

“It’s okay.” He murmured to her in the soothing voice he mastered. “Go back to sleep princess, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Kay daddy.”

Nick felt his heart melt just like every time she called him that. 

He still remembered the first time just like it was yesterday.

_ Nick and Ellie were sitting on the couch both finishing up some filing paperwork while Mariana sat on the floor surrounded by her crayons and coloring books.  _

_ Every few seconds one of them would look up to see what she was doing, but her focus was completely on her drawing, her tongue even peeking out of the side of her mouth in concentration.  _

_ “Done!” Mariana announced, pulling them away from their paperwork. _

_ “Daddy look!” _

_ Nick dropped the pen from his hand that rolled off the coffee table, his eyes wide. _

_ She had never called him that before.  _

_ “Look daddy look!” _

_ Her second call of daddy seemed to knock him out of it.  _

_ “That’s great, Mari.” He told her, though it just looked like a bunch of colorful blobs.  _

_ “Look Ell look!” _

_ Ellie smiled brightly. “It’s pretty, Mari. Aren’t you a little artist.”  _

_ Ellie reached over and pulled Mariana into her arms, tickling her making the little girl giggle uncontrollably.  _

_ Nick didn’t think he could get an even more perfect moment. His daughter had called him daddy for the first time, and the scene in front of him made it even better. Two of the most important girls in his life were happy as could be at that moment. _

Nick pressed a kiss to a now sleeping Mariana’s head.

He didn’t notice Ellie who had stayed on his couch watching from the doorway with a huge smile on her face.

* * *

 

A whole year had passed since Mariana had come into his life.

Mariana, now three years old, had just told him she wanted Ellie to be her mommy.

Nick was glad he was sitting on the couch, or he probably would have fell over. He knew Mariana loved Ellie just as much as she loved him, but this...was something else.

“Mari..” Nick struggled trying to think of what to say. 

Mariana pouted at him. “Please. Please please please please!”

Ellie had come into the door right at that moment. It had been a while since she had ever knocked on his door, Nick had long ago told her she could just come in whenever she wanted. He even gave her a key. 

“Oh no...what are you begging for now, Mari?” Ellie teased with a laugh.

Nick put a hand over Mariana’s mouth before she could say anything. “Mari, go to your room and play.” 

Mariana pouted again. “Don’t wanna!” 

“Mari…” Nick said in a stern tone. The little girl huffed but stalked off to her room, but not before stopping to give Ellie’s legs a hug. 

“What’s going on?” Ellie asked a little cautious. 

Nick sighed before grabbing Ellie’s hand, pulling her into his bedroom and shutting the door just in case they had a little eavesdropper, something Mariana loved doing. 

“Mari asked me if you could be her mommy.” He told her straight out.

Ellie’s mouth dropped open. “What?!”

“I know!” Nick threw his arms up in the air. “Where’d she even get that from?”

Ellie chuckled, making him glare at her. “What?” 

“Nick..” Ellie grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ve been a constant in her life almost as much as you since I met her, I’m always over here, I have a key to your apartment for crying out loud, I take her to daycare either with you or when you can’t the same with picking her up, I eat dinner with you guys every time we don’t have a case, I take her places or I’m going with you when you take her, I help sooth her bad dreams and fears the same as you..”

Nick blinked in shock. Had he not even realized Ellie did so many things with them? 

“I...guess I never thought of it like that.”

“To her, I’m a mother figure, can you blame her for asking for me to be her mommy?” 

“No..” Nick sighed. “What are we going to do?”

Ellie chuckled. “See even right there, you didn’t say what am  _ I _ going to do, you said what are  _ we _ going to do.”

Nick groaned and smacked a hand to his forehead but Ellie pulled it away.

“Can I be honest?” 

He nodded.

“I...I wouldn’t mind you know...being her mom.” Ellie said shyly. Nick’s eyes widened. Was this what he thought it was? “I’ve loved that little girl since the beginning and...I love you Nick. I have even before Mariana came into our lives.” 

Nick was too stuck on the words  _ I love you _ and  _ into our lives _ .  _ Our _ lives she said.

He decided to not say anything at all just yet as he stepped towards her, giving her a kiss that he tried to pour all his emotions into. Ellie gripped him tightly while kissing him back. 

“I’ve loved you all this time, too.” He told her, Ellie’s cheeks were flushed as she grinned. 

“So...what does that mean now?”

Nick tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “We’ll try to explain this to Mari the best we can.”

“And...if she calls me mommy?” Ellie asked softly.

“That depends...we love each other, but-”

“Nick.” Ellie looked him right in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere, if you want to wait until we get married before she calls me mommy or-”

“Married?” Nick asked, blinking at her.

“That’s right.” Ellie said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “You’re stuck with me for life.”

Nick threw his head back and laughed. “I have no objections.” 

He definitely wouldn’t mind calling her his wife someday.

“So...we’ll wait until we’re married before she calls me it?” 

He nodded. “I know you aren’t going anywhere but..”

“You just want to be sure, I get it Nick.” Ellie smiled, giving him a quick kiss. 

“You’re amazing, Ellie Bishop.” Nick pulled her into his arms, breathing in the mixture of her shampoo and perfume. 

A sudden banging on the door pulled them apart and broke the moment.

“Daaaaaaaddy! I gotta pottyyyy!” 

Both of them chuckled.

“Duty calls.” Nick teased before opening the door.

“I gotta goooo!” 

Nick quickly scooped her up to get to the bathroom quicker. Mariana giggled as he did so.

Ellie smiled fondly as she walked out after them heading to the kitchen to start dinner. 

Minutes later as she was in the middle of cooking, she felt Nick come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on her head that made her smile. Ellie had a weakness for the little gestures. 

Nick watched her as she continued to cook, but both of them constantly glanced towards the living room where they could see Mariana playing with her dolls. 

If this was how their life would be like...both of them thought it was pretty damn perfect. 


End file.
